Grandmother pleads with judge not to jail Leicester man who bit policeman’s arm

A man who bit a police officer on the arm has been jailed – despite his grandmother pleading with a judge to let her grandson get help from a hospital. Leicestershire Police were called to the home of Luke Carter’s relative in Mereworth Close, Northfields, Leicester, on Tuesday, June 25.

After shouting at the officers and telling them to leave, Carter, 36, ran from the scene and was chased down Hastings Road by four police officers. When they yelled at him to stop, he stopped but refused to get on the ground, leading to an officer firing a Taser at him.

Carter fell on top of one of the officers and sank his teeth into his right bicep. Prosecutor Sinjin Bullbring told Leicester Crown Court on Wednesday (July 24): “The officer had to hit the defendant to ensure he released the bite.”

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Images of the injuries were shown to the sentencing judge, Recorder Richard Thomas KC. Carter, of Cavendish Road, off Saffron Lane in Leicester, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The court heard Carter had also breached a suspended prison sentence he was given earlier this year. This followed admissions of racially aggravated harassment, stalking with intent to cause fear of violence and two counts of possessing knives in public.

These offenses led to a sentence in January this year of 12 months, suspended for 24 months, and he was also ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work. But he had only managed to complete 30 minutes so far and had missed 13 probation appointments without a good excuse.

Carter also had previous offenses on his record for criminal damage and common assault. Carter’s grandmother, who was sitting in the public gallery, shouted at the judge: “He’s a danger to himself and the public. He can be hospitalized. That’s what he needs. He needs to be hospitalized.”

The judge asked Carter’s lawyer, Emma Fielding, if she had any information about her client’s mental health issues. She acknowledged her client’s assault on a police officer and his lack of progress in his unpaid work were aggravating factors, but urged the judge to give her client credit for his early guilty plea.

Judge Thomas jailed Carter for eight months for breaching the suspended sentence order. He shouted at the judge from the bench as he was also given a further four-week sentence for biting the police officer.